Poll: People Generally Psyched For Whole Foods
Last week we asked readers to take a poll to get an idea of what the general mood about the arrival of the upscale grocer to Gowanus was. About half the respondents just want their Whole Foods and want it now. The majority of the other half a psyched for Whole Foods but have concerns…
Last week we asked readers to take a poll to get an idea of what the general mood about the arrival of the upscale grocer to Gowanus was. About half the respondents just want their Whole Foods and want it now. The majority of the other half a psyched for Whole Foods but have concerns about the environmental impact of the project, given how contaminated the 3rd Street site is. A bunch of comments from the poll are included on the jump.
Whole Foods Facing an Uphill Battle in Gowanus [Brownstoner]
GMAP
I liken this place to the “Rolex of the Grocery world”>>> it isn’t really about telling time.
Whole Foods isn’t so much about buying food eat so much as showing off.
It is like going to Bloomingdale’s to buy a gallon of $10 milk.
whole foods has overpriced crap!!!
$8.00 for a pound of grapes anyone??
Hello?? these actually grow on trees!!
status whores shop there
And I agree with you bob999, Fairway can’t be beat. But I’ll be able to walk to Whole Foods, so that’s a big plus for me and it will fill in the blanks between Fairway visits.
I actually agree with you, anon 5:59, both about the unrealistic environmental expectations that people are heaving onto WF at this location, and about the excellent quality and value of the 365 line. It’s just that you realize that WF’s prices on other things–meats, cheese, olives, mustard–are so insane if you start shopping at Fairway, as I have just done. Fairway is the best grocery company I have ever encountered anywhere. A huge pack of truly fresh herbs, packed by Fairway themselves, is $1.29. Herbs aqt Whole Foods, which are the same plastic-bound herbs you get at Kroger or Safeway, are $2.50 or $3.
I loved living a block from the Chelsea Whole Foods and it’s one thing I miss most having moved near to where the Gowanus Whole Foods will be. Sure, some things are more expensive, but the Whole Foods 365 brand is usually cheaper than buying the same product at another store and the quality is great. I also love a lot of their prepared foods and will welcome having a place to buy fresh bread — choices are lacking in Park Slope. I missed the poll and didn’t get to vote how “psyched” I am. Trader Joe’s is okay but really doesn’t have the selection Whole Foods does and is more of a specialty store.
I don’t really understand why Whole Foods is singled out over any other developer for needing to have a green roof or take care environmentally beyond the toxic waste. I think people confuse what Whole Foods stands for and maybe expect too much. I don’t see the Whole Foods chain as anything similar to Lowes, Home Depot or Pathmark. Those stores are hideous and awful to shop in while Whole Foods actually makes shopping fun with all their free samples and their community boards. I think big parking lots are an eyesore and make our city like any other strip mall around the country, though I see why they’re needed — it would be nice if they could be underground, though. It would also be nice if Whole Foods had the budget to do all these green things dissenters want, but I think that might be a new thing for the stores, and not really in their agenda.
There is more to environmental impact than cleaning up toxic sludge as positive as that is. The parking lot 450 cars churning three times an hour is 1350 cars an hour divided by 60 minutes = 22.5 a minute or about a car every three seconds. One in each direction on 3rd is a car every 6 seconds in each direction. Clearly there will be busier and slower times but during the slower hours there will be substantial impacts from the truck deliveries.
Of course only the abutters, like myself the 3rd St. residents will take that hit. Our block is very transit dependent with a bus route and a subway stop. As these automobiles mix with the overflow traffic from the BQE it could be very heavy traffic flows, per lane just as busy as Atlantic Yards. When broken up by traffic lights there will be substantial backups maybe even into the parking lot at Whole Foods.
Funny how the Carrol Gardens Neighborhood Association, so loudly against residential density allowed under R6 zoning so easily swallowed these huge traffic impacts. Lowes, Home Depot, Ikea, Whole Foods, Pathmark pretty soon you see lots of space in Gowanus given over to parking. Surely fertility drugs for traffic and a sacrifice of scarce space that housing and manufacturing also compete for.
Please work some of that stuff into your next poll on the matter.
As someone who lived directly across from the joint for the past 2.5 years in Chelsea, Whole Foods is deeply flawed (Republican owner, ridiculous prices, over-ripe produce, silly politics that permist the sale of, say, veal, but forbid selling Coke or paper towels that are worth a shit). However, NYC has such legendarily disgusting grocery shopping (Associated, Key, Gristedes, D’Ag) that any store that has a slightly lower chance of giving you food poisoning–let alone that carries decent meats, seafood, and cheese–is exciting beyond belief to those of us who love to cook. Meanwhile, despite being a huge fan of Brownstoner, I’m going to second the notion that the survey was too leading. None of the options for response reflected my feelings about the place.
i’ll tell you why they love it 2:43. you’ll notice that whole foods brooklyn edition is coming to GOWANUS.
if the powers that be decided that it would be whole foods, PARK SLOPE, this would not be happening.
because it’s one block further down and not technically IN park slope everyone from park slope can love that they’ll have their precious whole foods, while knowing that the CHAIN store that they all seem to oppose so much is not ACTUALLY in THEIR neighborhood.
it’s in GOWANUS. say it with me.
but when something great come to THE GOWANUS. you better believe everyone is gonna be calling it PARK SLOPE!
MJ:
Two words.
Status symbol.